The Frost Child
by Booknerd101
Summary: Something has gone wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. And, as the Guardians discover, not all stories get happy endings.
1. What goes Bump in the Night?

He was thinking, maybe, a nice blizzard for Midwest America tonight. Wouldn't Bunny love that? March was the perfect month for blizzards, Jack knew. Suspended directly between the assured bitterness of February and the expected warmer weather of April… catching everyone off guard as they prematurely looked forward to spring… fun.

Okay, maybe not a blizzard, but a soft flurry. Sandy had previously expressed dissatisfaction at nightly inclement weather; it threw off his flight patterns. And Jack didn't like annoying Sandy. It was too much like deliberately antagonizing a deceptively calm cat. In other words: not a good idea.

Either way, the area was about to get some snow. Propelled by the wind, he dipped toward a house—slicking the roof with ice just so- touching down at the perfect angle to slide down and off the sloped lip to launch back into the air without breaking speed. He bounced off roofs and streetlamps with reckless abandon, blankets of snow and ice following in his wake, coating the tiny town underneath him in a perfect layer of wintery white.

The wind urged him to continue across the country, its whispery voice promising even more fun in the easterly states, but he resisted. The summer spirits had told him that the east was due for some early springtime, and it was not wise to go against the wishes of Momma Nature. Winter might be Jack's domain, but _all _nature was her kingdom.

He paused briefly, perching on the head of a statue —he didn't look to see of whom—surveying his work. A good coating; not quite enough for a snow day (it was Colorado, after all), but enough to give the little kids something to wake up to.

As he perched there, the sun relinquished its hold on the horizon, and the sky bruised into a deep purple, promising a clear, black, night. Sandy would be here any moment, but Jack didn't want to stick around. It wasn't as if he didn't _want_ to see Sandy; the little man was all-around good-natured and comfortable company, but he felt an overwhelming urge to just be _alone. _

Sandy was the only Guardian Jack ran into on a somewhat frequent basis, aside from the occasional mini-fairy. North didn't travel much, preferring to preside over the work being done in the Pole, Tooth was, of course, constantly busy with her teeth operations, and Bunny tended to avoid the areas where Jack did his work. North sometimes called them all into the Pole to check in on them or just to talk, but those times were getting more and more infrequent. The last time Jack had seen them all together was five months ago. He didn't blame them; they were each relatively solitary creatures at heart and that was fine.

He willed the wind to carry him onward, and the town whisked by underneath him. He floated in the winds embrace like a wayward napkin, in no particular hurry.

The next settlement eventually slid into view, a city; larger, brighter, and busier than the town he had left. Nighttime had already seeped its tendrils into the streets and lights were burning in the houses and buildings in every direction. There was a thin layer of frost over everything—not Jack's work—but that would melt in the warmth of the coming morning. Jack declined to add a nice, thick, blanket, though the wind was imploring in his ear, and settled on adding some intricate frost patterns to the higher-up windows as he breezed by.

A huge, brightly lit, building, probably a warehouse, loomed in his path, and in a snap decision he made to alight on one of the higher-up windowsills for a quick moment.

As soon as his toes touched the cool concrete sill every single light in the building shut off.

His breath caught in his throat. What a _weird _coincidence. He glanced around at the surrounding buildings. They were still all lit as per normal. It had probably nothing to do with him, but he couldn't shake an uneasy feeling. His previous nonchalant mood was now completely gone.

Then, one by one, each of the streetlights in the street below flickered off.

Jack gripped his staff tighter, his hands slipping a little with cool sweat. He glanced behind him. The window he was perched on was slightly ajar, and though all the lights were on within, something _dark-bad _seemed to cling to the moonlight touching the sill.

"I need to see what's in there," he decided, speaking softly.

_No, _the wind whispered, _no, Jack Boy, no, don't, don't go in there, no, there's no fun in there, no, Jack Boy, please_

"I have to see," he said again, speaking more to himself than to the wind. Moving as quietly as possible, he wriggled through the open window, which was three stories up, making sure his staff didn't clack on the glass as he slid it in after him. He dropped delicately down onto the cold, dusty, concrete floor below, the wind's voice fading to a crooning sigh, barely registered in the back of his mind. _No, Jack Boy, no_

Whatever operations had been carried out in the warehouse, they were long gone. The single huge room was cleared except for abandoned crates and equipment in the corners, leaving nothing but dust and dirty puddles. Despite every light being turned on and burning brightly, it was absolutely empty and silent.

"Hello?" Jack called out, and immediately berated himself. There would be no humans able to see him here, and any malevolent creatures would hardly reveal themselves at his voice. Holding his staff at the ready, he started to move forward.

The windows rattled as if the wind were trying to break in. _Jack Boy !_

He circumvented a particularly large puddle, moving slowly. Out of the corner of his eye, something dark whisked across the dirty water, and he jumped. The uneasy feeling grew, and he shook his head to clear the clouds.

He reached the center of the room. The wind grew even more insistent, rattling the window panes angrily, as if growing desperate. Then it stopped.

Jack took one long look around the warehouse, but absolutely nothing was out of the ordinary. In the absence of the wind the buzz from the electric lights could just be made out. A few seconds passed, then thirty, then a minute, and he decided finally to leave the creepy place behind. He was seconds away from summoning the wind, but out of nowhere pain exploded in his mind.

Jack gasped and clutched at his head, his face, anything to try and get it to stop. It wasn't stagnant pain; it grew in intensity, as if a million Pitches were throwing him into a million walls. And it wouldn't stop.

His staff fell forgotten to the floor with a sharp _clack _as he pressed both hands to his head. He dropped to his knees and curled over himself, his back arching. The pain was all-consuming, forcing every other thought and instinct out of his mind except for that it _hurt._

Then the _voices _started. Quiet murmurs at first, but eventually growing in volume and intensity until the words could be made out; horrible, awful things that tore away the last defenses Jack had. There was screaming, also, very loud and very close. Eventually he realized it was his screams.

Eventually the struggle faded, and he collapsed onto the dirty ground, letting the noise and _pain _envelope him in its _cold, cold, _embrace. And, one by one, the lights in the building began to turn back off, as if nothing had happened. And, at least according to the humans who woke up the next morning and many mornings to come, nothing had.

**o.O.o**

When the silence fell, it fell _hard. _The sudden and complete absence of… well, _everything _that had constituted his existence for so long slammed into him like a brick wall. Jack woke up, gasping, his breath almost catching in his throat. He scrabbled at the ground, briefly, and then lay still. He marveled at the quiet, the simple, _beautiful,_ quiet, a small smile growing on his face. _How about that?_

His staff was lying a distance from his face, maybe a foot? He reached out and grasped it, observing that it was covered in dust and cobwebs. He wrapped his hand around it, feeling the cold, textured wood, and watched the ice patterns weave outwards from his fingers. _Yeah, that's the stuff._

After a while, he finally got to his feet, using his staff as a crutch. There was a great soreness in his limbs, not a soreness that resulted from an awkward night's sleep, but as if he had not moved in a great long while. It hurt quite a lot, and he giggled.

He remembered that there had been puddles. There were no puddles anymore; everything was bone dry. There was new equipment around, and the crates were different. It was still dusty, but with new dust, different dust, fresh dust. There was some ice on the ground, too, radiating from the spot where he had been lying. His ice.

It was dark, inside and out. Nighttime. Completely silent. Jack still marveled at that. The silence. It was nice, but… not nice. He wasn't sure if he liked it yet.

He examined his hands. Blood and dust had collected under his nails, and there were long scratches on his palms. He felt at his face, but that seemed fine. Just dirty. Oh well.

He kicked at the dust on the ground, and giggled again as it fluttered in the still air. Then he paused, frowning. _It's too warm. _He gave the equipment and crates around him a nasty look, then gave the ground a nice, solid, _rap, _with his staff. Ice exploded from the tip and fanned across the room, coating everything in a layer of frost and snow. The equipment closest to him rocked a bit in the face of the gust and a few of the windows rattled. The temperature in the room dropped like a weight. _Better._

It was time to go outside. Jack summoned another gust of wind, and leaped toward one of the higher windows. He squeezed through the barely open space, scarcely bothering to regulate his noise. Pausing briefly on the sill, he rocketed up to the roof. He alighted on the gutter and perched there tenuously. He looked around. There were no clouds, and the moonlight was very bright. He squinted, hating it.

The city below him was in full-fledged night-mode, lights twinkling, as if trying to combat the dark all around their homes. There was no snow, no frost, nothing. It was… summertime. He wrinkled his nose. That would _never _do.

He spun his staff in his hands, and took one last sniff of the hateful summer air. The moon seemed to catch his glance. It seemed almost… sad. Sad for what? Not Jack. Jack wasn't sad. The moon shouldn't be sad either; Jack was about to make the world so much _better. _Stupid, nasty, hateful moon.

He shook his head and disregarded the moon entirely. He had other business to take care of. Namely, the incredible _lack _of snow in this area! Time to fix that.

**A/N: This is not gonna be an overly happy story.**

**Currently this story stands at six chapters, and is a work in progress. I'm hoping to update Tuesdays and Thursdays, but that may change. I am currently stuck! Chapter six is a tough kumquat.**

**If you like what you see, or have some major concerns (for instance, you may ask why I enjoy torturing characters?) please drop a review, a PM, or, if you're up to it, contact me on the tumblr dot com (small-person-big-blog) and write me an ask. **

**I will have more to say about this story next chapter! I'm actually really excited for this.**


	2. Winter horrorland

"I'm worried about him."

"I know."

"But where _is _he?"

"If I knew, I would've said something by now!"

North sighed, and leaned heavily on one of his swords. "It's just… it's been _months._ When did you say was the last time anyone saw him?"

Bunny thought about it, scratching his cheek. "Sandy said… uh, signed, uh, whatever…. The last he saw of Jack was when he nearly buried a few towns in pre-spring snow, back in… March, I think?"

"March?" North despaired. "It's August!"

Bunny kicked over a log, and gave North a weary look. "I _know, _mate."

The two paused as a squad of mini-fairies swarmed by overhead before disappearing back into the trees.

"Do you think he's all right?"

Bunny studied the trees overhead. European forests really were beautiful, the sort of forests he loved spending time in, under any other circumstances. "If he's in real trouble," he finally said, "he's tough enough to take care of himself 'till we get there."

North acceded this. "I just wish there was a _way _of knowing he was all right, no?"

There was a rustle, and the two looked up as Sandy descended from the forest ceiling. The little man drifted down to about their eye level, and remained floating there, gently.

"Any luck?" North asked hopefully. Sandy shook his head sadly, and North's expression dropped.

_We're still looking, _Sandy signed, using pictures floating over his head to illustrate his point.

"We'll find him," Bunny said gruffly, his version of patting someone on the back.

_I don't think he's in Europe; _Sandy glanced back and forth between the two, _if he was last spotted in America, he would probably still be there._

North agreed. "Europe was long shot, anyway."

"But," Bunny frowned, "we've looked _all over _America. Nothing."

Sandy shrugged. _Doesn't hurt to try again._

There was yet another rustling, and this time it was Tooth who burst in from the trees, her feathers in disarray, and a cadre of mini-fairies following in her wake. Tooth had taken Jack's disappearance the hardest, her motherly instincts kicking in full force, and she hadn't stopped her frantic searching since the first signs of Jack being missing had appeared a few months ago.

"Anything?" she demanded, looking at each of their faces in turn. The three of them shook their heads in unison. She sighed. One of her fairies broke down into tears. "Hush," she said sternly, taking the fairy into her hand. "Now is not the time to lose our heads."

There was a long silence, as the four of them were unwilling to make the next move. Finally, "let's get back to the sleigh," North decided. "We will rest at the Pole, and then decide what to do from there." The others nodded.

The trip back to the Pole was spent in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts. The past few months—starting when a few areas _hadn't _received the required amount of snow it was 'scheduled' for, and the worries had started—had been hard on all of them, with the near-constant searching, and the added stress of having to worry about their own jobs as well. Bunny had known to start worrying the earliest, because Easter hadn't gotten any snow… at all. It had been Jack's personal joke over the last three years to douse at least _one _area under a load of snow over Easter, and Bunny had been ready for it… but it hadn't happened. And as much as Bunny had enjoyed the all-around nice weather, he had been worried. Very worried. Was still worried.

When they reached the Pole, all the yetis were hard at work. They all looked up at sighting the Guardians. They all wore identical expressions: _Anything?_

North shook his head sadly, and the yetis returned to work, somewhat deflated. Bunny couldn't blame them; Jack had grown on all of them over the past few years since becoming a Guardian, even to the yetis he had practically terrorized in his efforts to break into the Pole all those years ago. Bunny still couldn't believe that Jack had done it in an attempt to not be lonely, and not out of a need to be a damn nuisance, as Bunny had always thought.

"Cookies, anyone?" he heard North say a good ways away, and Tooth's polite refusal a moment later.

They stayed that way for most of the night, settling into their preferred corners; Tooth comforting her fairies, Sandy sitting in a meditative silence, and North in his workshop sculpting more prototypes.

Bunny was settled down on a ledge in front of the Globe, watching the lights flicker. He stayed like that for a long time. Such pretty little things, the things he and the others protected… wait.

As he watched, the lights all across the United States began going out in a massive sweep, beginning in the Midwest and spiraling outwards, even catching some of Mexico and Canada.

"Uh, guys?" he turned to look at the others, but none of them were paying attention. "_Guys!"_

Tooth and Sandy gave him questioning looks, to which he responded by pointing directly at the globe. An exclamation point went up above Sandy's head, and Tooth turned and screamed "_NORTH!" _loud enough to be heard all the way from the workshop.

Soon they were all gathered in front of the globe, watching in horror as the lights flickered out. Canada was definitely being affected, too, as the blackout ripped through the northern US, having nearly finished the rest.

"Should we…" Tooth was nearly speechless, "should we do something?"

"Uh," North shook himself out of his horrified stupor. "Yes! Get to the sleigh. Everyone on the sleigh! Let's go find out what is going on."

Whatever they thought they were going to find, what they did see upon arriving was… completely unexpected.

Everything, _everything_—the entire country, they found as they kept traveling—was covered in snow, heaps and heaps of snow. _Entire towns _were buried. As they passed over the larger cities, skyscrapers could barely be seen poking through. The moon was hidden behind thick, grey, clouds, and it was _still snowing. _Hard.

"What the-" Bunny couldn't believe what he was seeing. Tooth had her hands over her mouth and was making tiny squeaking noises.

"How did this _happen_?" North whispered. He slowed the sleigh as they passed over another city. The faint, tiny forms of humans far below could be made out attempting to dig pathways out of the snow, even as more fell in huge mass.

"The children…" Tooth spoke finally, "they didn't stop believing, they're… _dying._" She grew suddenly angry. "Who could have done this?" she hissed.

North and Bunny exchanged meaningful glances, and Sandy looked sad. Bunny reached over and put a hand on Tooth's shoulder, which was wired and tense under his paw. He couldn't believe he was saying this. "Tooth," he said haltingly, "I think… I think we just found Jack."

**o.O.o**

The human gasped for air, and frantically tried to scrabble his way to the surface. Amusing. Jack kicked another heap of snow down on him, and the struggling stopped. Jack cocked his head, listening, but there was only silence. Yes. Good. The human hadn't liked his snow… now the human would eat it. Very good.

Jack spun away from his latest fun and took to the air. He coasted over a small town, his most recent site of victory, observing his creation. The town could barely be seen over the snow. There wasn't a human in sight. He was pretty much done here… except…

"Not enough fun," he mused. "What do you think?"

_No… much more fun to be had… much more…_

Jack grinned. He loved it when the voices agreed with him.

The voices were a new addition, he had brought them back. It had been so _terribly _quiet without them, and he hated quiet.

He added another foot of snow onto the town. Now _that _was fun.

_Keep going._

"Yeah, yeah." Jack kicked off a snow-covered roof and launched high into the air. It was dark. He had hidden the moon carefully and completely under his clouds, so that the light wouldn't touch him. The moon had grown even more sad and hateful as Jack had begun his fun, so Jack had decided he didn't want to see him anymore.

The voices didn't like the moon either. He figured they didn't like the moon for reasons other than he did, but as long as they agreed, it was okay.

He had already spread his fun very far, but it didn't feel like enough. The voices told him he should spread his fun all over the world. He guessed that sounded good. There could never be too much fun.

He flew even higher and let the wind carry him. That was enough fun for right now, he would get back to it later. He was just beginning to shut his eyes, when he heard a new sound. It wasn't the voices, or even the _crump _of boots in deep snow, it was… jingling?

He knew that sound, it was… oh. Oh!

Shaking off the sleep that had started to claim him, Jack turned and steered for the snowy landscape below him. The voices were insistent: _hide, hide! _He knew! He was going!

He struck the ground feet-first, burrowing into the deep snow and covering himself, rendering him almost completely invisible. He left a small hole so he could peer through at the world above.

A few seconds later, the sleigh rocketed by, driven by the reindeer and steered by North himself. He could barely make out the other Guardians, too. They were looking at his snow. He wondered if they liked it.

_They're just like the moon; _the voices said snidely, _they won't like it at all. They hate fun._

Hate fun? Jack didn't see how anyone could hate fun. But he had to careful to agree with the voices. They were fun to have around, but they said they could bring the pain back… and he didn't like the pain.

_You'll have to get rid of them. They'll try and stop your fun._

Get rid of them? He guessed he could do that. They couldn't be good people if they wanted to stop his fun.

The sleigh passed by without seeing him, and he popped back out of the snow, watching them go. "I don't like them," he decided finally. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. "I _really _don't like them," he said, gripping his staff. They had said they were his friends… wouldn't his _friends _like what he had done with the world? Wouldn't they like his fun?

Apparently not. At the voices' insistence, he once again leaped into the air, but in the opposite direction the sleigh had gone, vowing that the next time they met he would show them how a _proper _frost child went about his fun.

**o.O.o**

**A/N: It's Thursday! New chapter, just like I promised! Not too enamored with this chapter, though, it's not one of my best. The next one, though, I like! Stuff goes _down _next chapter!**

**I think I'm going to stick to just Tuesdays from here on out, it will give me enough time to get through all this school nonsense and start working on this story again. Still on chapter six. Hmm.**

**If you are following this story, please drop me a hello! I want to meet all of you and get all of your opinions! Or maybe you have questions, comments, concerns, etc... **

**See you Tuesday!**


	3. Blood in the Snow

Tooth and her fairies worked fast; burrowing tunnels, carrying injured, and freeing up passageways for the people to escape their destroyed homes into safer dwellings. Nearly all of her thousands of fairies were employed in the work, as the tooth retrieval job had dropped a level of importance—the kids would hardly worry about their missing teeth when there was a _blizzard _to contend with. The remaining fairies had double booked themselves collecting teeth around the rest of the world.

Tooth felt only half-focused on what she was doing; she couldn't stop worrying about Jack. If this truly _was _his work, then something terrible must have happened. She had felt enormously protective of Jack ever since he had become a Guardian. She bitterly regretted falling out of touch with him; the only word of him she had gotten before he disappeared was from her fairies, who assured her that he was doing fine.

What if something terrible had happened? What if something _really terrible _had happened to him that couldn't be fixed, and they had to…

She recalled the conversation the Guardians had had just hours earlier.

_They were sat in the North Pole, in an informal circle; North leaning against the control board of the Globe, Bunny crouching off to the side, Sandy across from him, and Tooth across from North, surrounded by her fairies. The sun was just beginning to peek through the window in the roof, casting warm light into the room. This did nothing to calm any of them, though. Each of them was tense, wired with anger and confusion._

_Her fairies had been frantic since Tooth had given them the news. She couldn't quite believe it herself. Jack wouldn't really do all those horrible things… would he?_

"_Something has to be done," Bunny was arguing._

"_Such as what, Bunny? North snapped. "What are you suggesting we do?" he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I am really up for any suggestions, here."_

"_I don't…" Bunny faltered. "We can't just let him go on like this, if it even _is_ him."_

_Tooth exchanged a glance with Sandy, who gave her a supportive smile._

"_I am asking you, Bunny, _what_ do you think we should do?"_

"_Catch him?"_

"_Would it really be that simple?"_

"_We could try-"_

Tooth shook her head, clearing the negative thoughts. She couldn't afford to think like that, she had literally thousands of people to save. But, fortunately, she also had thousands of fairies.

They had split up; North going to the West Coast, Bunny going Midwest, Sandy going Mideast, and Tooth being responsible for the East Coast. They had agreed that once the situation was handled in the United States, they would turn to Canada and Mexico, which had also been hit. They weren't prioritizing the States… they had just been hit the hardest.

Tooth reached down and grabbed the hands of a small child who had gotten stuck deep in the snow. She gently yanked the child out (she was stronger than she looked) and put her on the roof of a building that had been cleared of snow. "Stay here, okay? Until a grown-up can get you," she told the child, giving her Tooth's biggest smile. The child seemed entranced at Tooth's colorful exterior, but nodded anyway to show that she understood.

She turned away from the child, and fluttered away to another snow pile, on the lookout for more trapped victims.

"Watcha doin'?"

Tooth whirled around and gasped; Jack was suddenly standing _right there. _She was _sure_ he hadn't been there a few seconds ago.

There was something decidedly off about him. His sweatshirt and pants were covered in dirt, and the same with his face and hair. He seemed unsteady on his feet; his limbs shook faintly as if they were unsure how to hold his weight, which was strange, because if anything he was even skinnier than he used to be. He clutched his staff—which boasted dangling cobwebs—in a vice-like grip.

But strangest and most unnerving of all was his smile; it seemed sweet and innocent at first glance, but a closer inspection revealed an unnatural and almost menacing grin underneath. But- no, the worst part about him had to be his eyes. They were penetrating and laser-focused and _not at all the right color. _They were stark black and bloodshot, not the clear blue they were supposed to be.

They were focused directly on her, apparently waiting for a response.

"J-Jack!" she finally managed. "Oh, I've been so worried!" She wanted to run up and hug him, but, yes, something was definitely very off, and she resisted.

"Have you?" he cocked his head. His voice was hoarse and strange, almost-but-not-quite bitter.

"Yes, of course!" Tooth managed a smile. "I've been looking for you-"

"Have you?" He repeated. He seemed dubious. But his smile never faltered.

"Yes, we have, we all have…" she faltered as Jack continued giving her that _stare. _

"Whatcha doin'?" he repeated his first question, more insistently.

"I'm…" she had almost forgotten the connection between the blizzard and Jack. "I've… been helping these people get out of the snow."

Jack frowned, and the smile disappeared. "But they should _like _the snow. It's fun."

Tooth was now at a loss for words. Something was definitely very wrong with Jack. "Jack, no, this isn't fun… people have died…"

"It _is _fun!" Jack appeared to be getting angry now. "My snow is _fun _and everyone who doesn't think so _should _die!"

Tooth gasped. "Jack, what's _happened _to you?"

Jack suddenly moved very fast, he whipped his staff around and struck Tooth across the face, sending her spinning into the snow. She cried out as she fell, and she tasted blood.

As soon as her head stopped spinning, she was aware of Jack standing directly over her. He pressed his staff into her neck, pushing her into the snow. "The voices said I should get rid of everyone who doesn't think my snow is fun," he said in his awful, hoarse, voice.

"Jack-" Tooth choked. "Jack, please-"

And then Jack was gone. Tooth doubled up, coughing and wheezing; trying to reorient herself, and suddenly Bunny was there, with a paw on her shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I-" she took a moment for one last cough, "where's Jack?"

Bunny held up a paw, and a boomerang landed neatly in it. "Should be back any second."

"How did you know to be here?" Tooth said incredulously, as Bunny held a paw out for her to stand back up.

"Felt it in my _gut, _actually," Bunny said proudly. "And I was right, wasn't I?"

"Bunny, something is _very _wrong with Jack, he's sick-"

"I know, I saw," Bunny said quickly. "Let's discuss this somewhere else-"

"That wasn't very fun." Tooth and Bunny whirled to find that Jack had returned and was standing mere feet away from them. There was blood on his temple and he was even more disheveled than before, but his smile had returned, and it was as manic as ever.

Bunny gently pushed Tooth behind him as he turned to face Jack directly. "Now, listen here, Frostbite, you've got ten seconds to explain what the _hell _happened to you before I-"

"Before you what?" His smile grew. "Before you _what,_ Bunny-man? What are you going to do? Are you going to kill me?"

"You seemed pretty intent on killing Tooth a few seconds ago," Bunny countered. "I'll do what I _have _to, Frostbite, and don't think I won't."

"Hmm," Not-Jack (she was having trouble associating this psychopath with the Jack she knew) cocked his head to the side, as if listening to something. "Yes, the voices are definitely telling me you have to die. Sorry about that."

"Voices?" Bunny cried incredulously. "_Voices-?"_ before he could finish describing just how incredulous he was, Not-Jack was in motion. Bunny had just enough time to shove Tooth out of the way before Not-Jack struck him in full force, trying to knock him over with his staff. Bunny combated the strikes, and managed to hit back with a couple smacks from his boomerangs.

With a thrust from his powerful legs, Bunny was able to propel Not-Jack back a few feet, allowing him to dodge to the side as bright blue flashes indicated Not-Jack was now trying to _freeze _Bunny.

A few flurries later, Not-Jack was thrown to the ground again. He started laughing as he rolled to the side, rocking unsteadily as he got to his feet. "You're funny," he declared, giggling. "I might actually…" he paused a moment. Bunny remained tense, waiting for the moment Not-Jack would strike again, but the moment didn't come. "Yeah…" Not-Jack said happily. He then rocketed away on a gust of wind.

Bunny watched him go, following him with his eyes. "Creep," he finally muttered after a moment. He turned back to Tooth. "You sure you're all right?"

"Yes," Tooth replied slowly. She rubbed her head, feeling the bump that was already beginning to heal. "What… what _was _that?"

"I have absolutely no idea," Bunny sighed. "The poor kid is out of his damn mind. He can't even follow through on his own decisions. Let's go find North." He held out a paw. "Tunnel?"

She sighed, and took his paw. He stomped, and a hole opened in the ground, ready to take them to North.

**o.O.o**

**A/N: My specialty is action scenes that last .5 seconds with little to no detail. **

**So we finally get a look at Jack from someone else's perspective! He's not looking good. The Guardians are starting to get clued in on what's happened. Who do YOU think the Voices are?**

**Important thing to note: he is not _possessed. _That's key. Read the first chapter more carefully to get what I mean! I like to think of the Voices more as... suggestions.**

**Next chapter is my favorite so far because _Sandy. _You'd think someone who communicates solely in pictures would be hard to write but geeeez do I love him. I can't tell you anything more about it because that would give it all away! No fun at all.**

**That's all for this week! Tune in next time for more answers to important questions such as: "when will the author actually finish writing chapter six".**


	4. You See the Nightmares, Don't You?

Jack perched on top of a statue, idly drawing frost patterns on the top of the bald head of whoever it was. He was practically fuming, his movements jerky and barely controlled. That stupid bird had tried to mess up his fun. And so had that rabbit! Didn't they _get _that he was just trying to play?

_Probably not._

It was so infuriating! It was like they didn't get the concept of fun _at all._

_Most likely._

What was he supposed to do? He just wanted to make sure _everybody _got to have fun. And then the bird lady had tried to screw it all up! Idiots.

_You could get rid of them._

He had _tried _that. The rabbit _saved _the bird lady and then refused to let Jack kill _him. _So stupid.

_Try harder. Have… more fun._

More fun? He was already having _tons _of fun, but he supposed he could have more. But, how?

_You'll have to kill them. Try very hard to kill them. Once they're out of the way, you can have all the fun in the world. And if the world doesn't like that, kill them, too._

How?

_I'll tell you how._

**o.O.o**

"Voices?" North folded his arms, his brow furrowing. "You say voices are telling him what to do?"

"That's what it sounded like," Bunny nodded. "He's… scary, North. The kid seriously freaks me out." Especially the eyes, Bunny remembered. They had been so soulless and… dead. Nothing at all like Jack's should be. Bunny couldn't imagine what could have happened to Jack in order to make his eyes look like that, but it couldn't be good. "You didn't see him, North. He wasn't Jack _at all. _He tried to _murder _Tooth. It's like someone took his brain out and put someone else's in."

Sandy's nose wrinkled. _Is that a possibility?_

"But what could the voices be?" North scratched his chin. He wandered over to the Globe controls and idly fiddled with some dials. They had returned to the Pole some minutes previously, at Bunny and Tooth's insistence, and they had told him and Sandy all of what had happened. North had taken the news calmly, while Sandy had looked stricken.

"You know what I'm gonna say," Bunny said quietly.

"Yes, Bunny," North didn't turn around. "And I can't say I haven't considered it myself." Of course he had. They all had, they had just avoided bringing it up before now. It had only been a matter of time.

"So what do we do?" Tooth asked. She had been mostly silent since arriving at the Pole, assigning herself to comforting her small group of mini-fairies, most of whom were consumed with grief.

"We…" North began, "we have to go find out if it's the truth. Then we can figure out what to do about it."

The others nodded, and Sandy silently raised one hand. North nodded. "Yes, Sandy, you are the best fit to go. Good luck, my friend, and be careful."

**o.O.o**

That was how Sandy had ended up here: underground, his absolute least favorite place to be. Sandy had always felt he belonged far above the Earth, among the clouds, where he could see everything and everyone. Here, he just felt small…. Well. Smaller.

But he supposed he _was _the best fit for this job. Imagine sending Bunny! There would be violence, possibly murder… or just a lot of shouting.

He had found the entrance easily enough. It was in the same place it had always been, a little ways out from Burgess. Sandy had never _liked _the proximity it had to where Jack spent a lot of his time, but there had been little he could do about it.

The entrance had been closed for years, with no sign it had ever existed, but a couple taps with his small hand proved successful in opening it. It was almost _too _easy, but it must come with the two of them having very similar powers. He tried not to think about it. All that had been left to do then was to descend into that very uninviting dark hole. Trying to swallow his doubts, he floated down into the vertical tunnel.

Sandy had been here… once, a very (very) long time ago, when the two of them, and the Earth itself, had been _much _younger. He didn't like to think of the circumstances of that meeting. It was best left un-thought about.

Though, if he had heard right, _Jack _was the one who had been here the most recently. It was something to think about: Jack, their youngest Guardian, venturing where the rest of them hardly dared, or cared, to go. But, he didn't know much about it, as that had also been a very dark time.

He hadn't _died, _per say. There was no real way to describe it, but Sandy had gone into a sort-of limbo, something suspended between life and death. He had existed, but only in the vaguest metaphorical sense. The children had brought him back, but he feared that if it had gone on any longer he would have disappeared forever.

It was something very similar that brought him here, today, when he would have preferred to stay far, far, away. His fear for Jack outweighed every sense of self-preservation he had.

The tunnel curved from vertical to horizontal, finally opening into a circular entrance. The realm was almost exactly how he remembered it; Venetian architecture, old, sinking slowly into some dark abyss, everything tilted and _dark. _If anything, it was further gone than he recalled; everything just slightly danker and …_slimier_ than he had remembered seeing it.

The man himself could just be made out a ways above, dark on dark, standing very still on a bridge that crossed the large chamber. He made no move to acknowledge Sandy's presence, but Sandy knew that he was aware of him.

Steeling his resolve, Sandy floated up to join him.

He landed some distance behind the man, but he made no move to turn and face him. Sandy was fine with waiting; he would let him begin on his own terms.

Finally, he spoke. "Ah, Sandman," Pitch drawled. "I can't say I was expecting this visit."

Sandy didn't reply. Pitch wouldn't be able to see anything Sandy had to say, anyway, turned away as he was.

"Especially… from you." He seemed lost in thought. "I would have thought you would stay far away, like the rest of them." Finally, he turned, a grin spreading across his face. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Now that they had eye contact, Sandy could feel very acutely the raging _dark-versus-light _battle throbbing between them, as it had always been. The two of them were entities that _should not _coexist, and the ramification of this was felt every time they met. They might be very similar, but, you know what they say about magnets of the same charge.

While his realm had changed somewhat, the man himself was exactly the same. Tall, gaunt, hair slicked back almost haphazardly. His long, dark, robe extended into the floor, blending into the shadows, and was held together across his chest in what Jack liked to call the Never-ending V-Neck. His eyes were just as cold and piercing as they had always been, staring at Sandy as if he could see right through him.

_I think you know why I'm here, _Sandy said finally, after a long moment, his words illustrated by golden pictures above his head, as always.

"Mmm, I'm sure I _don't._" Pitch hummed. "There could be any _number _of reasons, I think. Would you care to elaborate?"

Sandy wrinkled his nose. _Don't play dumb. _

"I'm not!" Pitch seemed affronted. "I don't know how a man of so few words can beat around the bush so acutely. Just _say _it, Sandman."

Sandy relented. _What did you do to Jack?_

Pitch thought about it. "What did _I _do?" he tapped his chin. "Me? Nothing." But at Sandy's dubious glare, his grin widened even further, exposing even more of his teeth. "But that's not true at all, is it?"

Sandy's glare deepened. _So it's true. You _poisoned _him._

Pitch brushed something off his sleeve (arm? Sleeve? Sandy wasn't entirely sure what it was). "You wound me, Sandy. I certainly might have helped the process along, but the madness is all him, I can assure you."

_He's killed thousands, and more are dying even now. Why have you done this?_

"Oh, why would you think?" Pitch rolled his eyes. "Pick any reason. I want revenge. I want revenge on _him. _I want revenge on _you. _I'm _bored. _Take your pick."

_That can't be it._

"Can't it?" Pitch stroked a cracked railing with one long finger. "Maybe I've finally _won, _and you simply can't accept it."

_He's trying to kill _us. _What if that includes _you_?_

"It won't. He's like a child, really, and any child, no matter how bad, will always listen to the authority figure in charge."

_And that's you? _You're _the voices?_

"That's what he's calling them, is it?" Pitch chuckled. "Yes, 'the voices' are me. But you'll find they're really only _suggestions… _everything else is coming from him. I'm controlling him in only the barest possible sense."

Sandy was at a loss. The things Pitch was saying… _Is there any way to fix this?_

"Mmm?" Pitch thought about it. "Maybe. Maybe not. It's not your typical _power of belief _little story, is it?"

_Could _you _fix it?_

"I'm sure I could, but," Pitch tapped his chin, "thing is, I can't. I can't leave this realm… you see the nightmares, don't you?"

Sandy did. They were a constant presence, lurking in the shadows out of the corner of his eye. Sandy had been here barely ten minutes and already they were making him nervous. He couldn't imagine what it must be like for Pitch, who was trapped here.

"Unless…" Pitch was continuing, "You would be so kind as to…" the walls went down for half a second, and his eyes softened. Sandy almost melted, _almost, _but he resisted.

_What if we brought him _here_?_

The walls snapped back into place. "Well, then all your problems would be solved right there and then, wouldn't they?" He turned away in disgust. "But what would _I_ possibly stand to gain from _that?_"

He walked a few steps farther down the bridge. "You see, _Sandman, _the madness will only get worse as time progresses. He'll destroy _everything _and _everyone, _until there is _nothing _left. And he'll think it's all great fun."

He tapped his fingers on the railing, idly, as if barely focusing. "And when all is said and done, when the world is nothing but _cold, _and _dark, _and _fear_, _then _I'll have the _voices_ bring the pain back, and _this _time, it'll _kill him._"

Pitch turned back and gave Sandy a leering glance. "And then the world will be filled with so much fear, I'll be powerful enough to _leave. _And the world will be mine for the taking."

Sandy could only stare, aghast, words failing him.

"And, I think, just for the extra thrill," Pitch said slowly, savoring it, "I think in that final moment before he dies, I'll let him go… so he can see his good work for himself." Sandy put a hand on his head, feeling the _horror _wash over him, and his shoulders slumped.

"Do you have any more questions, Sandman, or are we done here?" Pitch turned away again.

There really was nothing else. Sandy swallowed the horror that had built up inside him over the course of the conversation, and turned to float out the way he had come.

He was almost out when he heard Pitch's voice calling him. "I can feel the fear in you, little man! I can _always _feel it. And it's oh, so, potent." Sandy shuddered, and drifted up the tunnel all the faster.

Boy, did he have a _lot _to tell the Guardians.

**o.O.o**

**A/N: Was anyone, uh, surprised? **

**(((my friend is going to hate me for this... that is, if she can take time off her destiel fanfics to read this)))**

**Did you know that Pitch is actually really easy to write? You just summon Jude Law with a satanic ritual, he points to your word document- _bam _you've got Pitch's dialogue. So easy!**

**Also, there was no way it wouldn't have descended into a monologue. It's not like Sandy can hold up his end of the conversation properly, anyway. Sandy is all _inner _monologues. **

**Did you know that this story is about to pick _way up? _Action to come next week! And then... and _then... _the real plot begins. Like, scheming plots. There will be scheming. **

**I'm actually not sure how long this story will be! It will end up how it ends up, I suppose. Send good thoughts that I will defeat chapter six before chapter six is actually due. It's not that I don't have time, it's just... I'm stuck. We will see what happens.**

**See you next week!**


	5. What Goes Up Preferably Should Stay Up

**(Mood music: Bernadette by IAMX)**

**o.O.O**

The sleigh coasted low over another valley, barely missing one or two especially tall trees. This particular valley was bowl-shaped, and full to the "brim" with snow, the tips of trees poking out like straws. Bunny leaned over the railing as far as he dared (which was not a great deal), scanning the area as fast as possible as they flew by. Snow whipped him in the eyes, making it somewhat difficult, but he could still determine that there was absolutely no life in the immediate area.

"Anything?" North yelled back from the driver's seat.

"Nothing!" Bunny yelled in reply. He retracted himself back into the sleigh. "He's not there."

"Well, he wouldn't be, would he?" Tooth put in from her spot in the back of the sleigh, where she was also scanning the whitewashed countryside below. She was shivering slightly, despite the sleigh's heated interior (Bunny didn't ask just how that worked in an open-air sled). "He seems to be focusing mostly on populated areas, where people can _see _his… fun."

"Very true," North acceded, and he whipped the reigns. "Onward! But keep looking!"

This had been going on for many hours now. Sandy still hadn't returned from his mission to Pitch's lair, so North and the remaining Guardians had been scouring the country looking for Jack themselves. It was disheartening work, as there was absolutely no sign of Jack anywhere at all… except for the massive amounts of snow, that is to say. Jack seemed to be remarkably adept at hiding, and it was entirely possible that Jack didn't want to be found at all. They might never find him. But they had to try.

"Maybe he's left the States!" Bunny shouted over the wind, which was whipping his fur all over his face. The constant snow was getting a bit annoying.

"No!" North replied. "The Globe says that the lights are still only going out in this country. He hasn't decided to leave yet… or he hasn't been told to."

_That _made sense. "But why is he stalling?" Bunny furrowed his brow. "I thought he wanted to 'cover the whole world' or something."

"Absolutely no idea," North shrugged.

They rode in silence for the next twenty minutes, each absorbed in catching even the slightest glimpse of the renegade frost child.

Soon they were passing over another city. It was difficult to determine which (they were somewhere in Kansas) due to the snow, but this one was obviously heavily populated, as the relief efforts were already in full swing. None of the humans looked up to see the flying sled passing by, which could be interpreted badly. But, there was more likely just a bunch of rational, strict-thinking adults down there who didn't have time for Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, which _was _a good thing, in a manner of thinking. Adults weren't their domain, after all.

The good vibes, however small, weren't to last, though. Bunny shivered violently. "Uh, is it just me, or did it just get _way _colder?"

"Bunny, you are covered in fur," North replied.

"I'm serious," Bunny rubbed his arms. "I think it just went sub-thermal." He frowned. "…even more sub-thermal."

"Bunny, I don't think-" there was a loud explosion, and the sleigh lurched, along with Bunny's stomach. The sleigh dropped almost twenty feet, and North cursed colorfully. "What the-!"

The sleigh began to steer wildly out of control, North fighting to keep it steady, the reindeer's legs pumping madly to make up for the loss of propulsion. "Find out what that was!" North cried.

Fighting the mad urge to throw up, Bunny leaned over the edge of the sled, trying to catch a glimpse of the underside.

He finally managed, and snarled at what he saw. Jack was clinging to the underbelly of the sleigh, one handed, dangling almost insolently. One of the two engines affixed there was a mess of char and ice. "Hi," the little creep grinned as he caught Bunny staring at him. He swung up over the edge, out of Bunny's sight.

Bunny lurched back into the interior of the sleigh to find Not-Jack perched tenuously on the opposite edge, staff in one hand. The sleigh was still careening out of control, and North was too preoccupied to notice him.

"We meet again, bunny-man," his smile was still goddamn creepy. The wind was whipping his dirty hair across his face, but his eyes, his completely wrong, black, not-Jack eyes, could still be made out.

"Stop this, kid, you're gonna get us _all _killed," Bunny said carefully. _Anything _could set this psycho off.

"Uh, yes," he cocked his head. Why did he keep doing that? Just _what _was he listening to? "But…. Not me."

"Not you?" Bunny brandished a boomerang. "Mate, if you bring this sleigh down, I swear on the _moon _I am gonna bring you down with us."

Not-Jack laughed. "Okay." Moving with that sudden, inhuman, quickness, he leaped off the rim of the sleigh, and, using his staff as a pole vault, slammed both of his feet into Bunny's chest, using his full weight (which was slightly heavier than a mug, to be honest) to send Bunny careening back over the side of the sleigh.

Bunny scrabbled, and was able to grab onto the sled's runners before he went into free-fall. He heard Tooth cry out. He tried not to look down, instead focusing on Not-Jack as he appeared, predictably, directly above him. "Well, rabbit?" Not-Jack grinned. "Are you going to take me with you?" Just behind him Tooth could be made out trying to get North, who was still fighting with the sleigh, to turn around.

The sleigh lurched again, the reindeer clearly struggling, and Bunny had to fight to keep his handhold. His claws gouged deep scratches in the wood. Not-Jack raised his staff for another blow. "Can bunny-men fly, I wonder?"

The reindeer prevailed for a moment, and the sleigh stopped dropping. North finally glanced back and did a double-take as he spotted Not-Jack. He reached back, grasped Not-Jack's hoodie firmly, and yanked him back down into the sled's belly. Not-Jack was not expecting that _at all, _and his head hit the wood squarely, and hard. He lay, temporarily dazed, as Tooth pulled Bunny back into the sleigh, which was now flying somewhat smoothly at a bit of an angle.

Bunny made to pin Not-Jack down, but Not-Jack took that moment to come fully awake, springing backwards onto the lip again. "_Ow," _he accused North, as if North had cheated.

"Jack," Tooth said slowly, carefully, "let's just talk, okay? We don't have to fight." North remained silent, focusing on the sleigh, not wanting to aggravate Not-Jack.

"Don't have to fight?" Not-Jack's voice was still very hoarse, and now that things had quieted down, it could be heard very clearly. "Why not?"

"Because we love you, Jack, we want to help you-"

"You're _lying,_" he snapped, and Tooth gasped, taken aback. Not-Jack was no longer smiling at all, and Bunny could finally see the cold anger that had been lying under the faux childlike playfulness. He really _was_ insane. "The voices said the pain went on for a _long_ time, and you didn't do anything about that, did you? _No._"

Bunny frowned. The pain? What was the p—_oh. _Suddenly everything clicked together, Jack's appearance, his voice, his insanity. Oh _sh_—

"And now that I just want to have a little _fun,_" Not-Jack continued, "you want to stop me. That's not _helping, _is it?"

Tooth raised a hand, making to put it on Not-Jack's shoulder. He flinched away, swinging his staff around to point directly at her. "No."

Bunny moved to put himself between Not-Jack and Tooth, prepared for another round. It didn't come, however, as Not-Jack's eyes widened suddenly. He was looking at something behind him, something that caused him to stumble back along the lip in terror. "Y-you…"

Tooth and Bunny turned around. Bunny almost jumped as badly as Not-Jack had; Sandy had suddenly, it seemed, materialized out of nowhere, and was perched on the back of the sleigh, perfectly calm, as if he had been there the entire time. There was no anger on his face, just concern.

Sandy made no move, but Not-Jack still flinched as if he had been burned. "The voices don't like _you,_" he mumbled. "Don't- don't _touch _me…"Bunny realized that Not-Jack was legitimately terrified of Sandy. Who did that remind him of?

Before anyone could move, Not-Jack took a step backward off the lip and disappeared into the snowstorm.

Bunny rushed to the lip and leaned over it, trying to catch sight of him amidst the clouds. "North, can you-"

North shook his head. "Best not."

Bunny and Tooth fell back into the seats, dejected. Sandy floated down from his perch and settled down as well.

After a moment Bunny realized Tooth was close to tears. She was shaking, making small hiccupping noises behind her hand. Sighing, he gathered her in his arms. "Hush, now, it's gonna be okay." He patted her back. "We'll fix him. Don't worry." She leaned her head against his chest, mumbling something. He could only make out a few words, among them, "months," and, "didn't realize". Sandy reached over and gave her a pat on the back.

The sleigh trundled on unmolested. Assured that they were out of danger, North glanced back at Sandy. "Do you have any good news?"

Sandy looked mournful. _Not in the least._

**o.O.o**

The Pole was becoming a seriously hateful place.

"This has to stop," Bunny growled. "We can't just run back here to lick our wounds every time that creep surprises us."

"Stop calling him that," Tooth said hollowly.

"That thing is _not Jack_," Bunny replied indignantly. "You can't keep defending him, _whatever he is-"_

"'_That thing'_ is Jack!" Tooth cried, rising even higher off the ground, wings buzzing angrily. "As much as you don't want to think so, _'that thing' _is one of us, and he's in trouble, and _evidently we can't do anything about it!_"

"_Hey-!"_

"Stop it, both of you!" North snapped. "I know this situation is bad, but turning on each other isn't going to do a thing!"

Bunny sighed and rubbed a paw across his face. "Sorry, Tooth, I don't know why I…"

"It's all right," she patted her feathers back down. "You're right, though, on one thing. Running back here to talk about it every time Jack attacks us isn't getting us anywhere."

_We have to figure out what he's going to do next, and beat him to it, _Sandy signed thoughtfully.

"But how?" Bunny frowned. "He's wildly inconsistent. I don't even think he _has_ a thought-out plan."

"Well, think about it," Tooth looked around at all of them. "It's not Jack, it's Pitch, right? And Pitch isn't just getting revenge on _us_, but Jack, too. So he'll make Jack hit _himself_ where it'll hurt the hardest." She paused, as if reluctant to go on. "You know where that is, right?"

Bunny glanced at North, but the man seemed just as mystified as he was. He shook his head.

Tooth's face was solemn. "It's Jaime."

Sandy's eyes widened and he shifted around on his feet. North let his breath out in a huff. "That is alarming."

"What do we do?" Bunny demanded.

"We act," North straightened to his full height. "Right now. We go to the sleigh." He began striding toward the loading area. "And this time," he paused, looking at each of them in turn, "we do not return until Jack is himself once again." Their faces each lit up with excited smiles. "We go! To Burgess!"

**o.O.o**

**A/N: Dramatic, uh, ending. I remember that little section taking like three days to write, because damn. I am no good at transitional scenes. Also, did you know I started writing this story the day after I got my wisdom teeth out? That should tell you something. I don't know what, but something.**

**Have no fear, chapter six is all ready to be finished and posted on Tuesday. You people keep telling me to update "fast", so I shall be extra speedy on Tuesday to post when I get home from school. Because that's when I update. Tuesdays. **

**Content-wise, we now know that Not-Jack is terrified of Sandy. Who else do we know who's terrified of Sandy? Is that a plot point or just a subtle nod to canon? We just don't know. Tune in next week for more insightful author commentary and a glimpse into the fascinating mind of a senior who is done with doing things.**


	6. Burgess is Still Here (Mostly)

He watched the snow fall incessantly, in never-ending waves of _white-on-white. _It had almost let up earlier, but it turned around and was now snowing harder than ever, which was really saying something. He felt as if they were in a snow-globe. Or maybe an hourglass.

In the street below, men and women armed with shovels were working almost nonstop to keep the roads clear, so that the people in the houses could get to a source of food. It was disheartening, watching them, as every so often the wind would pick up and dislodge a heap of snow from the roofs, ruining their work, eliciting cries of frustration and despair.

He wondered how long they would keep it up. The blizzard had been going for a few days, with no sign that it was letting up, even a little bit. There was no death count here in Burgess, as there was rumored to be in other areas, only thanks to the efforts of the on-call winter team who usually handled the bad weather. Burgess had a reputation for getting a heck-ton of snow every year. They had been slightly less prepared than would have been optimal, but, then again, it _was _August.

Burgess had actually gotten a rather warm and early spring, which was strange, as their winters usually lasted up till the middle of April, due to the prankish shenanigans of a certain winter spirit who had made it his personal mission to get Burgess public schools to close several times _per year._ This year, however, warm weather had swept in right as March rolled around. Easter had been as clear and dry as a bone, which had been the biggest shock. To townspeople of Burgess it had been great news, but to Jaime it had felt like a very bad sign.

The weathermen and politicians would, he was sure, as soon as power lines got reconnected, put it down to some freak happening on the part of global warming. But he felt he had a more accurate explanation.

He folded his arms on his windowsill. It was the middle of the day, but the thick clouds covering the sun had rendered the sky an amorphous gray. Everything else outside was a mess of _white, white, white._ He and his family had chosen to stay in their home, following the example of many of their immediate neighbors. The alternative was retreating to one of the designated shelters set up in the schools and mall, but his mom said the big crowds of people in one small place would make Sophie nervous.

Currently Sophie was behind him, sitting on his bed, playing with his stuffed rabbit. Sophie acted as if nothing was amiss at all in the world, happily giggling to herself and murmuring the bunny's dialogue for him under her breath. Jaime heard her shifting around on the mattress. "Is Jack coming today?" she asked, wiggling the toy's arms around. She asked that question every day.

"I don't know, Sophie," Jamie grumbled. That had been his answer, every day, since…. March, he guessed?

That was when he had first noticed Jack was missing, at least. It had been Jack's habit to visit nearly every day, or at least once a week in the warmer seasons. But the end of March had brought uncharacteristically warm weather… and no Jack. Naturally Jaime had worried. He had actually gotten a couple visits from the other Guardians in those past few months. They had come to tell him that, yes, Jack was missing, no, they hadn't found anything, and had asked if Jaime had seen anything at all? Naturally he hadn't.

But of course he had been worried. He had spent practically all summer break on his mom's desktop computer and in the library, tolling through weather records, looking for anything, anywhere in the world, with reports of strange weather, so much so that his mother had begun to wonder. All he had found, though, was practically useless: there had been a dry spell in Western Europe, and one weird account of a warehouse in Colorado that refused to warm up above freezing, no matter how high the heat was blasted or how warm it was outside. In summary, nothing _useful._

Then the blizzard had hit. All that snow in such a short time, and after such a long period of warmth; it had been baffling. But he could put two and two together. All he could do was hope something _really_ horrible hadn't happened. But he had no way of knowing.

Jaime was now eleven, and possessed the almost singular gift of having retained his belief through past his early childhood. Perhaps it was due to knowing the Guardians personally, (how do you stop believing in someone you've met?) but even his friends, who held a similar experience, had begun to grow dubious a couple years ago. He didn't know how long his own luck would hold, but Jack was his best friend, and he wasn't about to let him go yet.

Jaime's eyes began to droop, and the snow outside began to take on a hypnotic rhythm. He was seconds from drifting off to sleep when his eye caught something below his window. Vaguely, some distance away, a blurry figure shifted against the blizzard, approaching the house. He couldn't make out anything in the white, but it looked like it could be-

**o.O.o**

The humans cried out in horror as the sky darkened yet again and yet another wall of white descended over the city. They ran for shelter, barely managing to grab their shovels and other digging tools before they were lost under the fresh onslaught.

Jack perched a roof, toes hooked over the gutter, overlooking the chaos. The humans scrambled; startled ants dashing for their anthills. He sank lower on his haunches, reveling in just watching them. The wind whipped his hair around across his eyes, and threatened to blow him off his perch, but he paid no mind. He rubbed his palm into his forehead; a headache had been slowly building behind his eyes over the past several hours, and it felt like it was trying to split his head in half. He had asked the voices about it, but they never acknowledged the question. Oh well.

He glanced at the sky, but no jingling sleigh or trail of gold dust loomed over the horizon. He hadn't seen hide or hair of the Guardians for almost a day. He found himself almost disappointed.

_Yes, they've rather abandoned trying to save all the humans, haven't they?_

He guessed that was a good thing. Maybe they had finally realized he was right?

_No. I do believe they are putting all their effort into _catching_ you_.

Jack frowned. Why?

_ I believe they think they can… save you._

His hands tightened around his staff, and his entire body went as taught as a wire. Save him? From what?

_I'm sure I have no idea. _

I don't need to be saved! His anger flared, and the headache spiked. He hunched over, hissing.

_I know. But you needn't worry. Soon you'll be ready to move on to the rest of the world, and they will be powerless to stop you. Now, if you're quite finished here, I have another small thing you could do, if you're willing._

Jack straightened up, his discomfort forgotten in the prospect of something _fun _to do. The voices always had such great suggestions.

_You remember that little boy you used to play with?_

**o.O.o**

"Hey, kiddo," Bunny said nonchalantly, as if he were meeting Jaime in the park and was not currently clambering through his window, which was very nearly too small through which the oversized rabbit to squeeze.

Only once the initial shock of finding a six-foot-tall anthropomorphic rabbit in his bedroom had worn off could Jaime manage a reply. "Bunny!" he exclaimed, rather noisily. He glanced back at his bed to see why Sophie hadn't gone berserk yet, (she was head over heels for her Bunny) and found that somehow in the past two minutes the five-year-old had managed to fall dead asleep, the stuffed rabbit tucked under her chin.

"It's been _forever_," he said, somewhat quieter. He recalled a previous conversation, one that had taken place months ago. "_We can't find Jack right now, but we're looking... you haven't seen him, have you? Very worried…."_

"I know." Even slightly hunched over, as he often was to conceal his full height, Bunny's ears brushed the ceiling. To fix this he settled more or less comfortably on his haunches next to Jaime's dresser. "How've you been? Is your family all right?" Bunny was all concern.

"Yeah we're-" Jaime had to pause a moment to collect his thoughts, which were leaping all over the place. "We're- What's going on? There's snow _everywhere_, and have you found…?" he gestured vaguely with his hands, almost afraid of the answer.

"Jack?" Bunny guessed shrewdly. Jaime nodded. "Yes. Well, no." Bunny scratched his head directly under his ear, as if thinking of a way to phrase it. "We have, but we… haven't." At Jaime's absolutely baffled look, he backpedaled furiously. "It's a hot mess, alright? We found him, but we didn't find… _him_."

Jaime still looked absolutely stymied. "Okay," Bunny thought it over carefully. "Here's what we know. We _know _Pitch is behind it," he paused, making sure Jaime was following. "Pitch Black, Bogeyman, you've met. What he _did _is somewhat complicated; at least I think it is. Sandy used this metaphor—think of clay." He made vague clay-molding motions with his paws. "Pitch used this really old, really _evil _magic that black sorcerers used to use way back when to control people… basically, he drove Jack so crazy that it made his mind really, well, really _moldable_—like clay, right, then he…" he made some final, almost futile, gestures, before looking almost helplessly at Jaime, "you get what I'm saying, right?"

"You're saying… that…" Jaime felt slightly sick, "Jack is crazy? That he made this blizzard because…"

"Because Pitch told him to, or because he wanted to, that we're not sure on," Bunny completed. "We don't know that Jack knows that it's Pitch. We've only ever heard him refer to something he calls the 'voices.' We don't know that he would care if he did know."

Jaime felt as if he was going to throw up. "And this blizzard is…"

"About the size of the entire country, give or take."

"Oh," Jaime squeaked. "And people have-"

"Yes," Bunny was watching him carefully for a reaction. "Died."

Jaime ran his hand through his hair, feeling every one of his eleven years, and very small. "Why did… you come to tell me this?"

"Because," Bunny straightened, growing a little taller in his crouch, ears erect, as if he had finally come to the business at hand, "we have reason to believe that you're not safe. That you could possibly be a target."

"That _I'm _a target?" Jaime exclaimed. "But why would crazy-Jack care about me?"

"He wouldn't. But Pitch would." Bunny looked solemn. "He's vindictive, angry, looking for maximum damage. It's not a big leap."

"So…" Jaime rubbed the back of his head. "What are you going to do?"

"Easy," Bunny said. "You're gonna come with me. We—the Guardians—'ve got a plan in mind, but it's not strictly speaking… ethical."

Jaime made a small squeaking sound. "What?"

"If you're up for it," Bunny clarified, and added, rather ominously: "it could save Jack's life."

And there it was: the words that would send Jaime running in whatever direction the Guardians told him to, following whatever convoluted plan they could cook up. The words he had been waiting for since Jack had disappeared. "Okay…" Jaime said finally. "Okay. What do you need me to do?"

**o.O.o**

**A/N: (The infamous chapter six) Did you know I almost forgot the three-year time lapse in my own story? Like, whoops, kids are supposed to grow up. It's hard when three quarters of the characters are immortal, and not affected by time, okay?**

**Summary of this chapter: Pitch doesn't play fair. He kind of makes up his own rules, and then breaks those rules. And then acts offended when you call him out on it.**

**Also, Jaime? I like Jaime. The movie is cool 'cause there's kind of two audience surrogates? There's Jack, who knows nothing, and then there's Jaime, who's like, "why is there a strange boy in my room talking to himself?" So yeah, in this story Jaime gets to be the surrogate and have everything explained to him. Jaime represents you! You just learned something about storytelling.**

**The good news (for me): I only have less than two weeks of school left. The bad news (for you): things are getting crazy, and I'm getting murdered by end-of-the-year stuff. So no update next week. It's all for the best, because once I get out of school I can focus better on this. That's the idea, anyway. **

**PSA: if you ask me questions, please remember to be logged in! That makes it a bit easier. Peace.**


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